FOOD FIT FOR KINGS In Hungary, poultry processing Merian Foods Kft has always been a leader in product development: more than three decades ago they were the first to offer tinned goose liver and poultry frankfurters in vacuumed packaging for consumers. Due to their high quality branded products, the company has successfully achieved a premium market position in the domestic market and is now exploring the possibilities of greater export sales. Edina Beale investigates.
T
he poultry processing industry in Orosháza, Hungary began more than 100 years ago. Following in the footsteps of its predecessors, Merian Foods Kft began its operations in November 2009 when it purchased the local poultry processing factory. Merian was the first among the Hungarian poultry processing companies to introduce branded products. Their Rex Ciborum brand – meaning ‘king’s food, the king of food’ in Latin - is a trademark for goose and duck liver products and these are known as luxury products in both the domestic and international markets. The ORSI product range includes a wide variety of products such as frankfurters, pate, cold cuts, ham products and tinned products, available in many different flavours, sizes and packaging. 118 Industry Europe
Merian puts great emphasis on quality and developing new products. Ensuring that existing products are to a consistently high standard and meet the expectations of their customers is a major consideration. However, development of new products plays an important part in the company’s success with a number of new products being launched every year. In addition to the traditionally smoked and processed premium frankfurters, the ORSI Grillsli product range is a new category but the Rex Ciborum product range is also continuously being extended. The latest innovations, such as the fatted goose liver in five different flavours stored in buckled jars, or the flavoured goose and duck liver terrine stored in screw topped and buckled jars have received a warm welcome from consumers.
Maintaining market share Marketing and export sales manager, Mr Endre Kovács explains the company’s strategy to stay competitive. “Our partners in Hungary include international hard discount stores, and international and domestic chains that operate hypermarkets. As multinational companies close cooperation with these customers is essential to maintain and increase our market share. We are continuously aiming to acquire new markets, to meet requirements both in quantity and in quality, and to maintain and extend our firm customer base. “We support the sales of our products by continuous discount offers in many varieties of forms including leaflets, newspaper ads, tasting and discounts based on quantity. Of course, during 2013 we experienced a
